Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. WBD -1.14% sues Paramount Global, PARA -4.86% says it paid rival media company for exclusive streaming rights to new “South Park” episodes just for Paramount to push new content out of the popular animated comedy on his own streaming service Paramount+.
In the lawsuit, filed Friday in New York State Supreme Court, Warner Bros. Discovery said it paid more than $500 million in 2019 to exclusively broadcast new and existing “South Park” episodes through 2025 to stream on its HBO Max platform.
“South Park” airs on Comedy Central, a Paramount cable network.
Warner Bros. Discovery said it had been assured the deal would give it exclusive streaming rights to at least 333 episodes, proposing three new seasons of 10 episodes each. The complaint said it received fewer new South Park episodes than this one. It also said South Park specials aired on Paramount+, which it didn’t receive.
“South Park” has won four Emmys and made many of its characters household names.
Photo: Comedy Central/Everett Collection
“When Paramount decided to launch its own new streaming platform, its priorities shifted drastically,” Warner Bros. Discover said in the complaint from Paramount+, which launched in 2021, at Warner/HBO’s expense.”
Warner Bros. Discovery said it wants to attract new and younger subscribers to HBO Max with South Park. The lawsuit argued that Paramount attempted to use South Park to boost its own streaming service, causing HBO Max to lose subscribers. The company did not say how much money it is seeking in the lawsuit, but said it has more than $200 million in damages.
A spokeswoman for HBO Max repeated the allegations made in the lawsuit, including that Paramount broke its contract.
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A spokeswoman for Paramount said the claims were unfounded and the company will prove it through the court case.
Owning the rights to popular shows can help streaming companies stand out from the competition and attract more viewers. Media companies have ended licensing deals to bring popular shows to their own streaming services. For example, Netflix Inc. lost the streaming rights to “The Office” in 2021 so Comcast Corp.’s new service, Peacock, could stream the comedy.
Paramount Global, formerly ViacomCBS Inc., inked South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to a six-year deal in 2021 for 14 South Park movies for Paramount+ and six new seasons of the TV show on Comedy Central. The company paid Messrs. Stone and Parker $900 million for the deal, the Journal reported.
“South Park,” which first aired on Comedy Central in 1997, follows four troubled boys in a small town. The show has won four Emmys and made comic book characters Cartman and Kenny household names.
Write to Joseph Pisani at [email protected]
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